Kylin Mini V2 Clone
Ingenious design but with a potential weakness affecting some models
A single-coil RTA which vapes extremely well, delivering a huge range of experiences across the entire scale of trip-intensity levels.
The real trump card of this device is its ability to function well on small amounts of juice (just 1.5ml total juice will produce a half-way level in the straight glass compared to approx 3ml for the Zeus X equivalent). It owes this advantage to it's design, common to other Kylin models which uses a lower side entry of juice to wick, instead of the usual bottom juice well arangement.
The cap O-ring is prone can be prone to coming adrift, but easily fixed by cleaning with isopropyl alcohol, drying and then sticking in place with slightest smear of cyanoacrylate superglue.
The main disadvantage of this tank appears to be the rotating build deck assembly which is built into the base shell. On some examples, this has been imperfectly seated and caused problems in removing and attaching the base. A fix is possible but success is not guaranteed.
It's fairly simple to wick, but recommended to follow the linked video tutorial. This is a shortened version from Chasing Clouds & Flavor Reviews utube channel, so please visit and show your appreciation.
Kylin Min V2 Wicking (Shortened).mp4Recommended wicking tutorial. An except from a full video by Chasing Clouds & Flavor Reviews
The design incorporates a build deck which rotates (like a record turntable) relative to the base shell. This allows the base to be screwed on whilst the build deck remains engaged in the fixed chimney slots. It's a sound idea, but on a recent knockoff example, the swivel mechanism has not been seated perfectly and caused difficuties with screwing the base to the main body. We are currently monitoring the situation, so please report your experience via the Discord.
Pros:
Excellent all-round operation
Unusually large build deck, can accommodate large coils if desired
Build deck uses the larger M3 grub screws, rather than the usual M2.5. This makes them more resilent against wear and far firmer engagement with the allen key
Small capacity with straight glass (see pics below) which many will prefer for dimitri juice (including myself)
Does not have conventional base-resident juice wells, instead the wick is lower side-fed via transfer holes. This eliminates a pool of hidden juice in the base and makes it easier to judge remaining juice quantity at lower levels
Top cap and base very easy to grip for removal
Straightforward to wick, although advise following the tutorial as linked above
Cons:
Be prepared to secure the cap O-ring as described
Incorporates a rotating build deck mechanism (see pics below) which has been reported as troublesome in several knockoffs and even genuine models
A single coil deck, coil need to be wound the correct orientation to fit the offset properly
If wicked with excessive amounts of cotton in the vertical parts of the wick (i.e. the side parts that join the juice wells to the horizontal coiled part of the wick) this can be compressed by the main body upon reassembly and may lead to juice starvation/dry hits. However, if you closely follow the tutorial above success is IME guaranteed.
Verdict: Highly recommended if you can get a good one, but beware yours might suffer from difficult assembly/disassembly owing to the rotation mechanism as described
The assembled Mini V2 with stock drip tip, note the nice chunky moldings on the cap
For clones, make sure yours includes the full set of 7 O-rings
Build deck is unusually large, visually similar to the Arbiter 2, but has no juice wells
Spacious build deck, but wind the coil the correct orientation or you'll need to start over
Clamp screw from Kylin (left) and Zeus X (right). The Kylin uses larger M3 x 4mm cup point grub screws, whereas most dual coil RTAs have smaller M2.5 x 3mm equivalents
Smooth 510 connector, it'd be nice not to have the rainbow coating on there though
The troublesome rotating mechanism in the dismantled base. Left is the build deck with ball bearing, seal and brass centre screw. Middle is the 510 centre pin and insulating collet. Right is the base outer shell into which the bearing engages with an interference fit.
At the time of writing (Sept 2023) spare O rings and glasses are available from Aliexpress, although maybe not for USA customers